How did Pramod Mahajan amass so much wealth?

A powerful elder brother murderously gunned down by the younger brother one early morning. The son of the deceased caught snorting cocaine from Rs 500 notes with the secretary of the deceased, who later dies of an overdose. A hurried marriage for the son of the deceased with a childhood sweetheart. A hurried arangetram into the youth wing of a party which decries “dynastic politics” for the daughter of the deceased. Wifebeating charges against the son of the deceased followed by the filing for divorce of the new couple. A surprisingly quick conviction for the killer-brother.

It is easy to tch-tch-tch about India’s most dysfunctional political family, and shed a tear or ten for a mother whose world turned upside down in the space of a few weeks. But a letter-writer in today’s Deccan Herald cuts to the chase:

“The recent front page coverage of Rahul Mahajan’s separation from his wife again reinforces the view that our media creates hype and sells hype in their business interest. Mahajan is a non-entity who neither holds any important position in the BJP nor is a celebrity by any yardstick to command such coverage.

“The real point is how the late Pramod Mahajan, a small-time teacher and a sangh parcharak, amassed such huge wealth which allowed his prodigal son to have this sort of life style. This was never hammered by our press.”

17 Responses to “How did Pramod Mahajan amass so much wealth?”

today the times of india has a report on policemen turning politicians.We have a ex Constable Chengiappa ( at the most salary of 5 k when he must have resigned ) Now he is dealing in hundreds of crores.How ????

Pramod Mahajan was a fixer through and through. He used the mask of pragmatism to cover all the cracks in his personal and political life. The incidents that churumuri now recounts are not the only ones on his CV. Who can forget a top cop’s wife screaming at the top of her voice on live television of his involvement with a now dead journalist? Like Pranab Mukherjee in an earlier era, Mahajan was the Minister for Reliance Industries in the Vajpayee cabinet. The Hyatt hotel in Delhi was his adda for all his deal making. The rumours of the real reason why his own brother pumped bullets into Mahajan and the rumours of what transpired on the evening his son was caught in a drug haze are proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. We shouldn’t speak ill of the dead but they should earn the right to be spoken well of.

Why pick on Pramod Mahajan when you have DiKeShi, Gowda family, SM Krishna, Bangaarappa and others right in our backyard? Honestly, with the exception of ‘very few’ (like Abdul Kalam), every other politician is corrupt to the core.

Why do we have such a problem about talking about the dead, and their misdeeds? These now deceased persons yielded enormous power with long lasting ramifications. So does their death absolve them? Or our misplaced values discourage us from speaking out about our perceptions?

Dynasty politics should be stopped. At least for the families that have negative public image should be banned. Not only Mahajan family but Gandhi’s are no exception. Ever wonder why Menka Gandhi who is a social worker and yet the congress has Sonia Gandhi as Macho Woman of the party despite her origin?

Forget all these. I know one guy by name Balaji M S alias Balaji Subhash, whose parents are government officials and this guy is worth more than 2000 crores. At the age of 22 he grabbed 1000 acres from the government. He is into hawala, money laundering etc. http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/23/stories/2006042321440400.htm

He looks simeple and he is very close to all the political leaders irrespective of the political parties.

Oh my God. This is the tremendous change we reported in the life style of balaji subhash now. He has quit all connections with politicians, underworld and others now. He has completely changed and is doing lot of charity to the poor. He has become completely white collard. Hope all this happened because of the recent income tax raid on his house and other properties. Anyway we wish him all the best for the future.